Turkey Day Challenge: Cranberry Quince Pinot Noir Sauce

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Thanksgiving at my house is sort of like a miniature West Side Story, except instead of the Jets and the Sharks it’s the Canned Cranberry Jelly Lovers and the Real Cranberry Sauce Lovers.  Now granted, it’s not like we’re all dancing around my dining room and getting into choreographed knife fights over dessert…but if accidentally-on-purpose forgot to buy a can of cranberry jelly, well, it might well devolve into something like that.  My husband won’t eat it unless you can read the date imprint in the jelly from the can…and I won’t eat it unless it’s homemade.

In some ways, this is a good thing.  I don’t have to worry about catering to someone else’s tastes….because I’m the only one eating the cranberry sauce.  I can make whatever the hell I want.  Last year it was honey and spice cranberry sauce and the year before it was the bourbon cranberry sauce.  Both good, but variety is the spice of life!

So this year it’s cranberry quince Pinot Noir sauce.  It’s both sweet and tart, and very very delicious!

2 cups apple juice
1 cup Pinot Noir
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
6 cloves
1 teaspoon peppercorns
2 quinces, peeled, cored, and cut into small cubes
12 oz fresh cranberries

Bring the apple juice, wine, and spices to a boil in a large saucepan.  Add sugar, stirring until dissolved.  Add quince and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add cranberries and simmer for an additional seven minutes.  Toss the cloves out, and remove fruit from liquid.

Boil the liquid until it’s thick and syrupy.  You may need to add more wine at this point to get the volume of syrup you need.

Combine syrup and fruit; serve.  Or, in my case, can it.  It makes 2.5 pints of sauce.

The quinces, cranberries, and cider vinegar are all local.

I can’t wait to unveil my latest cranberry sauce variety on Thursday.  If I can convince anyone to at least try it, I may get some converts to homemade cranberry sauce this year!  Or I may find myself alone in the kitchen singing “When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet to the end….”  Either way, this is great sauce!